"Exactly! A perfectly good trial, and they've turned it into kidnapping and extortion!"
"Utterly shameless! Utterly shameless!"
The elders cursed furiously, and some even sprang to their feet.
"I don't want this disciple anymore! Let them do whatever they like!"
"Huh?" Grand Elder Zheng Tianyuan stared in disbelief, then broke into a broad grin and clapped his hands, laughing. "Excellent!"
"I knew you elders were devoted to the sect and understood the greater good! You would never damage the sect's interests over a mere handful of disciples!"
But his laughter left the elders dumbfounded too.
No, Grand Elder, I was just saying that! It was only an angry remark...
Still, having already said it, they were too embarrassed to take it back.
Of course, even if they did, they believed the Sect Master would never agree to pay such a humiliating sum-two hundred thousand spirit stones per disciple-to ransom them back.
That meant tens of millions of spirit stones. How was that any different from demanding Heavenly Baleful Valley's very life?
Zheng Tianyuan waved his hand and made his decision. "Good!"
"Once the trial is over, we'll spread word of the Righteous Alliance's disgusting feat throughout the Eastern Region!"
"It's not as though their alliance alone calls the shots in the Eastern Region!"
"Exactly!"
"When the time comes, notify the Alchemy Alliance, the Artifact Refining Alliance, the Talisman Masters Alliance, and the Formation Masters Alliance. We must let them all see the Righteous Alliance's hideous true colors!"
In the end, both sides reached a surprisingly unspoken agreement: ignore them and let them do whatever they liked!
Inside the cave, Chun Xiaobai waited a full four hours without receiving a single reply.
He summoned Fang Yuan and Xiao Zhang again.
This time, however, there was no trace of impatience on